The Birthday Party

Samantha invited Amelia and Reid (and their parents, Lance and Dana Williams) to help celebrate her birthday! So Sunday afternoon we had a really fun time. The kids played indoors and outside and we adults finally got a chance to sit down and talk. This summer has been really busy; hard to coordinate a time to get together. It was wonderful to get to know them better.

Samantha requested chocolate cupcakes for her cake, so one of the things we did was decorate our own cupcakes by squeezing frosting out of baggies.

Even the adults got into it!

The Williams ladies are very crafty (artistic, not sneaky!), so they gave Samantha her own set of perler beads. Now she can create pictures and designs on a pegboard with the beads and iron to melt them together. Amelia also gave Samantha a pretty bottlecap magnet she made and Reid gave her a perler bead magnet. Now we have something to hold up her schoolwork on the refrigerator!

The kids also had fun playing outside floating "boats" (wood scraps from Rob's shop) in the large puddle in front of the house.

Rob and I designed and created this cross necklace for Samantha. I drew the shape and Rob fashioned a piece of shell that we found on the Oregon Coast last month and a washer into this beautiful piece of jewelry with the tools in his shop. He used a belt grinder to shape and smooth the shell, a drill for the hole in the washer, and grinder to shape the attachment piece. Then I super-glued them together. It was so fun to see the finished product!

Samantha's 5th Birthday

Samantha's birthday started off with the whole school singing "Happy Birthday to You" during circle time. This is a time in the morning when the school (K-12) meets together to do a group activity and/or share announcements. Samantha (in the crown) also shared a birthday with the teacher's aide sitting next to her.

Samantha had fun opening gifts before dinner from Mom & Dad, Connor, Grandma & Grandpa Albers, GramE & Pop and Great-Grandma White

Then we drove 12 miles to the Creekside Cafe and had dinner and dessert. Samantha chose to share a gigantic cinnamon roll with Mom, and Connor scarfed down a piece of triple chocolate cake with Dad.

A Drive to the Susitna River

Wednesday, after Connor got home from school, we decided to go out and enjoy another beautiful day. We packed a picnic dinner, loaded up in the truck, and drove the Denali Hwy 50 miles east of Cantwell to the Susitna River. It was a gorgeous drive as we passed three glaciers (Nenana, West Fork and Susitna Glaciers) and numerous snow-capped mountains. In the very center of this picture are two peaks. I couldn't determine if they are Mount Deborah (12,339 ft) and Hess Mtn (11,940 ft) or Mt Geist (10,720 ft) and Mt Balchen (10,010 ft) according to our topographical map (or a few other options!).

After parking near the river, Rob loaded his gun, we ate our sandwiches in the bed of the pickup, and then went on a walk along the Susitna. We noticed several game trails to the water, and Rob and I jumped when a robin flew out of a low shrub into a nearby tree. The rustling branches made us wonder if it was a bigger animal...

We witnessed more wildlife on this trip than over the last two months up here! During our adventure, we came upon a cariboo in the middle of the highway. He couldn't figure out how to avoid us, so we followed him at about 3 miles an hour down the road. Finally, we had to speed up and have him run next to us before he would get out of the way! We also saw a porcupine that showed us his quills before shuffling into the bushes. Only a few miles from Cantwell, Rob spotted a beaver swimming and gathering twigs for his lodge.

Connor Lost His Tooth!

Connor's first day at school was particularly memorable because he lost his very first tooth during class! Mrs. Gore, his teacher gave him a certificate to commemorate the event.

~Our First Day of School~

Connor and Samantha both headed off to their first day of school this morning. (Two hours and 36 minutes ago, but who's counting...) This is especially momentus for us because they have been homeschooled so-far, so even though Connor is a 2nd grader, it's his first day of "public school", too. It was tough for both Rob and I. Boy, are they growing up! Here are some pictures:

Learning about the School Bus

Yesterday, the four of us drove over to Cantwell School and got to learn about riding the school bus. The kids were pretty excited! Along with the other Kindergardeners and young new students, we met the bus driver, learned the basic rules, went for a ride. This is Connor and Samantha with our friends, Amelia, who will be in Kindergarden with Samantha, and her younger brother, Reid.

Community BBQ at Hempstead's

One of the couples from our church organized a farewell potluck/BBQ for a State Trooper family who is moving from Cantwell. We had a chance to get to know several new faces there. Rob even jumped in to a game that some highschoolers were playing. (The object was to slap the hand of another participant, but you had to freeze after your turn of making one fluid movement.) Good Times!

"Yoda's Hut"

After the bushes in the ditch between our road and the 4-wheeler trail were cut down this week, we cleaned up the branches and tossed them on top of the brush pile at the back of the church property. Connor and Samantha discovered what they happily referred to as "Yoda's Hut". It has already provided hours of entertainment...

Gospel Music and Testimonies

Tuesday night we enjoyed an evening of gospel music and testimonies at CBC with The Jacksons, of the Alaska Freedom Band. We started out with a BBQ/potluck dinner; Rob and Marcus flipped burgers and all had a great time of fellowship.

Don (right) and his wife, Edna, live in Anchorage and helped open the concert with a few hymns.
Doug VanWingerden (left) grew up in Cantwell between '54 and '64 when his father was the pastor of the church. Now he helps by serving as the sound technician for the Jacksons.

Millie Jackson and her husband sang entertaining and meaningful music, gave their testimony and delivered a message from Nehemiah about how we should respond to God's call for our lives.

After many days of clouds and rain...

Sunday was a nice, mostly sunny day so we HAD to get out and enjoy it! We all put on our rainboots and hopped in the truck. First, we found an area just south of town next to the highway with several man-made ponds. They were very shallow in places, as you can see. Cinder didn't enjoy swimming as much as we thought she would, so after a short while we drove out east on the Denali Hwy. about 10 minutes to a turnout and went for a hike along a creek. The kids loved bouncing around on the tundra. You can see in the picture of Cinder what we discovered: the ground was mostly rocks (like a huge gravel pit) covered with moss, lichen, etc and blueberry bushes. It was so fun to get out and enjoy the beauty of God's creation here.

Cantwell Bible Church Elder Farewell

One of CBC's five elders is moving on to relocate in Delta Junction, AK, this week. Marcus Herman will be accepting a job as the cook for a restaurant in Delta recently purchased by a family member. We enjoyed snacks after church last Sunday in his honor, and had a time for "farewells".

Thanks for your service to this church, Marcus, and for sharing your simple and real faith with us.

(top) Marcus with some of the ladies at CBC.

(bottom) A few of our men: Rod, Marcus, and Rob

Some of CBC's Kids

Here are two cute pictures of some of the kids that attend Cantwell Bible Church. In the top picture from left to right are Connor, Samantha, (wait, is that Pastor Rob?) Amelia, Bella, and Reid. Rob was administrating a few races outside after service last week!

Summer Reading Program Party

A week or so ago we had the end of the Cantwell Library summer reading program party! Connor and Samantha enjoyed getting new books every week, and they both fulfilled the requirements to complete the program (earning a Barnes and Noble gift card). Samantha and I read 45 books together, and Connor read over 675 total pages by himself! The program was also a great way to meet a few people in town and be involved in the Cantwell community.

DJ and Christine's Wedding

My younger brother, DJ, and his new wife, Christine, were married on August 5, at Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, Washington. It was a beautiful ceremony (great vows that they wrote themselves) and really cute ring bearers and flowergirls. (I'm a little biased!)

Connor and his cousin, Mikah were both ringbearers.

Samantha and her cousin, Ember, were both flowergirls.

Our immediate family

The bride and groom's "first dance"

Samantha watching the new couple during their first dance

Time in Sandy

We also spent a few days with Rob's parents in Sandy.
His brother, David, drove out for dinner and both evenings.
Our kids enjoyed being at Grandma and Grandpa's and

playing with Uncle David on the swingset.

We also got a taste of some hot, summer weather!
Nice, compared to 60 degrees in Alaska...

Family Time on the Oregon Coast

We flew down to Oregon to attend my younger brother's wedding last week! Before the actual wedding, my immediate family spent four days at a beach house in Oceanside, Oregon (near Tillamook). We got to relax with Great-grandma White, GramE and Pop, my brother Matt's family (Jenny and their kids, Mikah and Ember), and my brother David with his fiance (now wife!), Christine. It was a lot of fun walking down to the beach every day, playing in the sand, jumping waves, combing the beach for shells and beautiful rocks, and roasting marshmallows.A Wet Samantha

A Leisurely Walk

Jumping Waves

Finding some Jade

My Great-Grandma White

Connor and Mikah's Sandcastle